Lizzie Borden alive and tormented on opera stage

You know the old saying: It's not over until the accused Fall River hatchet murderess sings.

You know the old saying: It's not over until the accused Fall River hatchet murderess sings.

Boston Lyric Opera will kick off its 2014-15 season with Jack Beeson's "Lizzie Borden" July 31, four days before the 122nd anniversary of the double-murder that shocked Fall River and the world.

The seven-scene performance, directed by Christopher Alden, will take place during the Tanglewood Festival at stately Seiji Ozawa Hall in Lenox, about 140 miles northwest of Fall River.

Lizzie Borden was tried and acquitted in the 1892 hatchet murders of her father and step-mother in Fall River, but controversy remains about her guilt or innocence. In their opera, composer Beeson and librettist Kenward Elmslie leave no doubt about her murderous culpability, while changing a few details of the well-known story for theatrical reasons.

Older sister Emma becomes a younger sister, Margret. A suitor for Margret is created, the sea captain Jason McFarlane, and a psychologically convincing backstory for the stepmother, Abby (her subservient and deeply resented role as a servant-nurse to the dying first Mrs. Borden, Lizzie's mother) is developed. The Beeson piece was first performed in 1965 as a three-act opera. "We are thrilled to reprise this extraordinary classic at Tanglewood as part of the BLO's first collaboration with the Boston Symphony Orchestra," BLO General and Artistic Director Esther Nelson said in a news release.

Anthony Tommasini of The New York Times wrote that Beeson's Lizzie Borden is "like an American retelling of the Electra myth" and called it "a sure-paced, gripping and subtle musical drama," powerful expressionist music with touches of 19th-century Americana.

Conducted by BLO Music Director David Angus, the production stars mezzo-soprano Heather Johnson as Lizzie Borden, who has been hailed by Opera News as "a dramatic singer in the truest sense" and just wrapped up another collaboration with the Metropolitan Opera this season; Grammy-nominated soprano Caroline Worra as Abby Borden; and bass-baritone Daniel Mobbs as Andrew Borden. In addition, 15 members of Voices Boston — a group of student choristers — will perform.

The debut performance in November was hailed by critics; the Boston Globe said Johnson "sang with pointed vocal power and exacting dramatic control, conveying the torment behind Lizzie's veil of Victorian propriety." Opera News called Worra's performance "riveting amid the wreckage, proving herself one of the finest singing actresses around. "

Boston Lyric Opera is New England's only fully professional opera company. Founded in 1976, it stages four productions each season: three at the Citi Performing Arts Center Shubert Theatre in Boston and an Opera Annex production in a found space. Programs are funded in part by a grant from the Massachusetts Cultural Council and the National Endowment for the Arts.

"Lizzie Borden" starts at 8 p.m. Tickets range from $18-$54. More information is available at bso.org or by calling (888) 266-1200.